Hedgehog rolls
Hedgehog rolls are a fabulous, fun bake for kids to try. They’re super easy and really cute making them perfect for kids of all ages.
Hedgehog rolls are a great bake for children – they’re fun, really easy to make and super cute.
I love making bread with my kids. I love that they get to make something by hand with the simplest of ingredients. And they love getting their hands a little bit messy, kneading and shaping the dough.
We’ve tried lots of different bread recipes together (you can see some of them below), but these hedgehog rolls are my kids absolute favourite – who can resist their cute little faces!
Can you make any other animal shaped rolls?
Yes! If you’ve tried the hedgehog rolls and now want to make something else, there are lots of really easy animal shapes you can make into rolls.
Bunny/rabbit rolls: shape the dough balls as you did with the hedgehogs then snip two large ears. Add sultanas/currents for eyes. Make sure the ears are quite big as they will shrink a little when the dough rises.
Tortoise rolls: roll five small balls and attach them to a larger dough ball to make the head and legs. Add sultanas/currents for eyes. You can also score markings in the ‘shell’ with a sharp knife.
Snail rolls: make a long sausage then simply roll it up into a snail (the way your kids would with playdough!) Add eyes and a nose with currents/sultanas.
How can kids help make hedgehog rolls?
This is a great recipe for children as it’s so easy but there’s still loads for kids to help with.
Making bread dough is a great thing for kids to help with in the kitchen. Kids can help to measure out the ingredients and mix them all together. They can also enjoy kneading the dough – it’s a really good job for kids of all ages as they get the chance to get their hands a bit messy.
My kids also really enjoyed getting to form the hedgehogs. Turning the dough into hedgehogs is really easy when you know how, so if your kids can work scissors they should manage to do this.
What other easy bread recipes for kids can i make?
If your kids enjoyed making these hedgehog rolls they might also some of our other easy bread recipes for kids including:
Tiger bread
Easy bread recipe for kids
Easy pizza recipe for kids
Bread sticks
English muffins
Pitta bread
Dough balls
Soft bread rolls
Shaped dinner rolls
Homemade garlic focaccia
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these hedgehog rolls
Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Measuring jug
Baking tray
Wire rack
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Difficulty: Easy
Time: 30 minutes + 1.5 hours proving + 15 minutes baking
Serves: 8+ rolls
Ingredients
450g strong white bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
7g dried action fast yeast
50g butter
250ml milk
1 egg
Currents/sultanas
How to make hedgehog rolls
Mix the dry ingredients
Get your kids to measure the flour out and put it in a large mixing bowl or free-standing mixer.
Add the sugar, salt and yeast into separate sides of your bowl. Make sure your kids use their ginder to level the teaspoons so you get just the right amount of salt and sugar.
If you have a very young baker helping, adding the yeast is an easy take if you have sachets as they can simply pour the whole packet in.
Add the wet ingredients
Get your kids to measure the butter and add it to a small microwavable bowl. Measure out the milk – if you have digital scales you can be really accurate if you use the ml setting.
Add the milk to the butter and heat them in the microwave or on the hob until the mix it warm and the butter is soft or almost melted. The milk needs to be warm to activate the yeast but not so hot it kills it. If you can put your finger in and it feels nice and warm it’s about right.
Pour the milk/butter mixture into the flour and mix it together, either using wooden spoons or the dough hook on your mixer.
Finally, crack the egg in. It’s normally best to do this in a small bowl first in case any shell goes in. If you do have some rogue shell, fish it out with a large piece of shell – it’s easier than using your finger.
Add the egg to your mixing bowl and beat it in.
Knead the dough
Once everything has come together knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
We normally let our mixer do some of the hard work before finishing it off by hand. My kids love getting to knead the dough, but won’t necessarily do it properly or for long enough so the mixer gives the dough a bit of a head start.
If you’ve never kneaded before, it’s really not difficult and the best this is you can feel your hard work working, as the texture of the dough changes.
To knead the dough by hand, simply stretch and pull the dough, bring it back together then repeat. It might start a bit sticky, but will become smoother and more elastic as you go on.
Leave the dough to rise
Pop the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with cling film. Leave it in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.
Make the hedgehog rolls
Line 2 baking trays with baking paper
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Get your kids to ‘knock it back’, which basically means punch it to get the air out (my kids love this job!)
Divide the dough into approximately 8 pieces (half it, half it again, then half it again). Roll each piece of dough into a ball, tucking the sides under to smooth down the top.
Once you’ve made balls, shape them into hedgehogs by pulling them slightly at one side to give them a snout/nose.
Let your kids take the hedgehogs in their hands and use scissors to snip all over the back to make the spines. We started with a row just behind the head, then did a few more rows behind that. Make sure the snips are big enough so they don’t disappear when they bake.
Finally, add a few currents or sultana/raisin halves for the eyes before setting them down on your prepared baking tray. Repeat with the other hedgehog rolls, leaving enough room between them for them to rise and spread.
Cover the hedgehog rolls and leave them to rise again in a warm place for about half an hour.
Bake the hedgehog rolls
Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C Fan / 425F.
Bake the rolls in the oven for 10-15 minutes. They’re ready when they have turned golden brown and sound hollow if you tap them underneath.
Remove them from the oven, then pop them on a wire rack to cool. Serve and enjoy!
Hedgehog rolls
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Freestanding mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Measuring jug
- baking tray
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 450 g (3 ¾ cups) strong white bread flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 7 g dried action fast yeast
- 50 g (¼ cup) butter
- 250 ml (1 cup) milk
- 1 egg
Instructions
Mix the dry ingredients
- Measure the flour out and put it in a large mixing bowl or free-standing mixer. Add the sugar, salt and yeast into separate sides of your bowl.
Add the wet ingredients
- Measure the butter and add it to a small microwavable bowl. Measure out the milk – if you have digital scales you can be really accurate if you use the ml setting. Add the milk to the butter and heat them in the microwave or on the hob until the mix it warm and the butter is soft or almost melted.
- Pour the milk/butter mixture into the flour and mix it together, either using wooden spoons or the dough hook on your mixer. Finally add the egg to your mixing bowl and beat it in.
Knead the dough
- Once everything has come together knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
- Pop the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with cling film. Leave it in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.
Make the hedgehog rolls
- Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and 'knock it back', (punch the air out).
- Divide the dough into approximately 8 pieces then roll each piece of dough into a ball, tucking the sides under to smooth down the top. Once you've made balls, shape them into hedgehogs by pulling them slightly at one side to give them a snout/nose.
- Take the hedgehogs in your hands and use scissors to snip all over the back to make the spines. Start with a row just behind the head, then do a few more rows behind that. Make sure the snips are big enough so they don't disappear when they bake.
- Finally, add a few currents or sultana/raisin halves for the eyes before setting them down on your prepared baking tray. Repeat with the other hedgehog rolls, leaving enough room between them for them to rise and spread.
- Cover the hedgehog rolls and leave them to rise again in a warm place for about half an hour.
Bake the hedgehog rolls
- Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C Fan / 425F.
- Bake the rolls in the oven for 10-15 minutes. They're ready when they have turned golden brown and sound hollow if you tap them underneath.
Similar recipes
If you liked these hedgehog rolls, you’ll love our Homemade bagels, our other bread recipes as well as our favourite easy recipes for kids.
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